Free The Bureau (A Cage for Men and Wolves Book 1) by Michelle Kay Page A

away from the little dents the legs had left in the carpet. She must have thrashed hard enough to move the heavy thing. A lump grew in her throat and threatened to choke her. Her body remembered what she'd done to it, whether her mind was trying to block it out or not.
    Neither of them spoke for a long time, but the static tension that had hung between them was also gone. Their silence seemed comfortable, as though the shared experience of brutality had brought them closer together.
    "I was surprised." Clover's voice was scratchy from screaming and her words were slurred because of her stopped-up nose. "I figured you'd already have an indentured werewolf."
    "I don't really agree with keeping them." His voice was equally subdued.
    "Why?"
    "My family thinks it’s foolish. Keeping the enemy so close." He seemed to know that she was too tired to lash out at him for his use of the 'E' word. "My brother, Dominic, is particularly bothered by it. He says it's degrading to rely on them."
    Clover actually laughed, though it was a tired, disgusted sort of sound. They had enslaved an entire race of people, but it was their reliance on them that was the problem. She wondered how someone became so blind to the crimes they were condoning, and enforcing. "Of course. Clearly that's the problem here." 
    Another stretch of silence slid between them and Clover realized that her mind, which had been a mess ever since her family’s capture, was blank. It was a relief. The quiet that had nestled into her head, in combination with the smoky smell of the fire and the soft cushions, relaxed her until she was nodding on the edge of sleep.
    "It's not going to be easy to find your family." Elliot's voice was masterfully neutral. "How are you going to do it?"
    "I dunno," she admitted, then pushed herself to her feet. "That's your job to figure out. Come on, I'll get you set up somewhere other than the bathroom for the night."
    Clover had lost her urge to make Elliot suffer, and didn't figure having him sleep on a tiled floor would serve much of a purpose any more. Using the kitchen shears again, she clipped the zip ties from his ankle and led him upstairs, barely holding onto his arm. After letting him change out of his stained shirt and clean himself up in the bathroom she, bound one of his hands to the headboard so he could sleep in relative comfort. For herself, she retrieved a fluffy, spare comforter she'd found on the top shelf of his closet and settled on the plush carpet.
    "I'm your prisoner, but you're the one sleeping on the floor?" Elliot asked once the lights had been shut off.
    "I'm used to sleeping on the floor." Her eyes refused to open again. "Besides, we'd both be disgusted if I used your bed."
    Elliot didn't disagree.
     
    - 10 -
     
    It had been strange, that morning, for Clover to see her completed disguise. Her uniform was still loose fitting, and she had to stuff the toes of her shoes with tissue to make them fit, but the overall effect was acceptable. Her face was clean from her bath and she'd managed to tame her hair into a relatively neat bun. Save for the shining bandage covering her new, throbbing numbers, she looked like any other indentured wolf she'd passed on the street.
    Still, her heart raced as they walked through the ever-expanding crowd, the pedestrian traffic getting heavier the further into the city they traveled. By the time they made it to the subway, Clover felt faint. They were packed shoulder-to-shoulder in the train car, and she was certain a hand would reach through the crowd at any moment to yank her into custody.
    "You should calm down," Elliot said quietly, breaking through her internal panic. "Just keep your eyes on the floor. People will think you're being cheeky if you look at them."
    Elliot stood facing her where they'd been pushed into a corner of the train, looking right at home in his starched uniform, decorated with a white shoulder pad that communicated something Clover didn't understand. She was